The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-01-11
MUTES OF ALASKA.
A STURDY PEOPLE WHO DWELL
NORTH OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.
Their Physical Peculiarlties and Gus
toms-Powcrs of Endurance-Curious
Marital Arrangements-Boiief In Evil
Spirits-Curious Superstitions.


incompetence OF the inter prefers In
mutt" means "men," being the plural Of
innuk, "man." These people have no
lame as a race, but designate themselves
"slutes," which literally translated, means
"a dwcller at or upon" For instance,
native born at the village on Point Hope
! UiSerachl is Tigerach Mute; one born at
Point Barrow is Noo-wuS Mute and so
on, deriving their classification from the
| place of nativity. This IS somewhat similar
to our custom of saying New Yorker, a
native of the Empire City, San Francis
can or n Dostonian.
Tho popular idea prevails that these peo-
| pie resemble those living on the eastern
/ shores Of the Arctic ocean and Greenland,
/ bat while on the Greenland side the stature
of the natives i small, upon the Alaskan
side numerous measurements taken by me
Of 10Th sexes show an average height in the
males of five feet eight inches and in the
/ females Of five feet four inches There are
| many men, and women, too, especially at
| Point Barrow and Point Hope that measure
| nearly six feet, and all well proportioned.
| II their facial characteristics these people
/ partalse of the Mongolian type. Examina-
| ton of skulls and living persons show the
| high prominent cheek bones, the oblique
/ shaped eye setting the elongated nOStrils,
and straight, coarse, black hair Of the Ash
attic race. By reason of their hardy life
their limbs are OF a strong mold. The only
malformation that | observed among them
was q tendency in the knees and feet to bend
inward. More especially is this to be no.
ticed in the women, circumstance attrib-
ute to their carrying heavy weights upon
the lower portion of the spine, while the
uneven surface of the ground forbids walk
ing in any level manner. Another reason
for this malformatiOn is the length of time
these people are confined TO their boats
when travelling along the coast. Through
out tho entire territory of Alaska and the
AlcUdan islands it is very rare TO see ma
tiv, Of either sex, exhibiting a perfect up
RIGHT carriage. The Alcuts at the Seal
is,al IS and Oonalaska, both males and fe-
. nal. resemble in their walk the waddle Of
o duck,
Pay5!cl,ly, these Mutes are very strong,
/ :hc:r noWers of endurance are great, and,
+ as o. sequence 10 the sole aim Of their exist
cuco. j. e.. 90 obtain food their powers of
observation and acuteness in hunting both
o. !aul and sea, are strongly developed
( Were IL not for the thick layers Of dirt
! corering their skin the complexion of these
/ peoples would be almost white. Until old
ace comes on their teeth are well shaped
and souad their eyes of deep brown hue,
brigAt and sparkling and extremely express
sivc. Many cases Of marked good looks can
b. seen among them, while intelligent and
pleasing manners are general characteris-
tics. The family relations existing between
j ybaf Il fO
mine. This arises from the fact that when
man takes a wife he may retain her as
long as he pleases or she may leave him
ind obtain another protector. Instances
where the woman never leaves her first
protector are rare.
While the mother is always the first to be
consulted before any marital arrangements
are entered upon, journey undertaken, or
trading engaged in, the fathers final as
sent is the one to be obtained. But living
as these Mutes do in community each ones
affairs become his neighbours, and every one
has something to say i'll another's affairs.
GarrulitY is a prominent trait among the
women who are quite on par with their
civilized sisters in retailing gossip and scan
dal When q man desires to become poa-
sessed of n girl to share his fortunes, over
lures are made 10 her parents and herself.
Should acquiescence be obtained, presents
Of skins and food are made to the girl S pa
rents and she becomes his spouse. Such emo
tion5 as love, tenderness, or endearment are
unknown, the woman is simply regarded as
q worker, to sew and cook and bear chll-
dren. Unless she by force Of character OBJ
tains some influence over the man, her lot is
anything but enviable Upon the least fit of
anger upon his part cuffs, blows and kicks
are showered upon her, but these do not
create much astonishment in the village,
simply forming a theme of gossip among
tho old women.
A belief in the presence of evil spirits CON
stitutes the only religious ideas among the
Mutes There are among them individuals
called toonrachs, corresponding to the
sbaman of the Siberian tribes If person
Is sick before the whaling season com
mences or a child is born before going on
n Journey or building q house, the services
of the shaman is called in requisition. The
modus operandi in every case is very SINH
lar. The shaman, after q long spell OF
silence suddenly begins to roll his eyes, con
vulsive shakes pervade his frame, ana he
Gives utterance TO various groans and signs
intermingled with sentences pertaining 10 tne
subject upon which he is engaged. During
the time of his performance continuous
beating upon drum is kept up. Toward
tho end paroxysms or rather convulsions OF
exaltation similar to what have been de-
scribed as prevailing at TIC finale of Shak-
er meeting, are exhibited by the shaman.
Froth exudes from his mouth, his eyes glare
and roll, and his whole frame is contorted.
Perspiration pours from his face, and he Is
entirely exhausted. The loud invocations
to the evil spirits TO vacate the body OF the
sick person, or TO drive them away from
tho sea to enable tho whales or seals to ar
rive, beomo gradually subdued, dying away
into incoherent mutterings. Then after
while ho regains his composure, compia-
Gently smokes his pipe, and receives his pay
for services performed. If the operation is
performed over q sick person and recovery
does not ensue the payment made is re-
turned, custom that might be advan-
taseously adopted among civilized persons.
Some curious superstitions are also to be
noted. If person is sick, iron tools, such
M o-cs or knives cannot be used in tho